Hurricane Dorian swept through city with no real major damage

Loris anxiously awaited the ramifications of Hurricane Dorian with expected winds ranging from 55 to 75 mph along with the prediction of 8 to 12 inches of rain.  Late night on Thursday, Sept. 5, Dorian skirted the South Carolina shores as a category 2 storm, but was gentle on the Loris area with minor wind and approximately 6 to 8 inches of rainfall.

Residents of Loris were relieved when Dorian did not bring in the winds anticipated. Other than a few areas receiving power outages and a few limbs down, Loris survived without major incident.

The city of Loris EOC was prepared and ready for possible emergency situations.  It was an easy night for the fire and police departments with no emergency rescues.  Tom Cocke, director of the Loris recreation department, headed the EOC which all department heads were present. 

Mayor Todd Harrelson sent a message to the residents of Loris and the city workers.  “I want to thank all of the city of Loris employees for a job well done throughout Hurricane Dorian;” he said, “all department heads met daily at 8 a.m. for emergency management briefings from Horry County EOC. These meetings were essential in giving information to pass on to personnel.”  He stated that everyone worked together by acting promptly to get the job done. Loris Fire Chief Jerry Hardee and Loris Police Chief Gary Buley were on the job throughout the night with their workforces making sure that everyone was safe. Harrelson said, “I feel that Loris was prepared more than ever before.” Recreation director, Tom Cocke, headed up the Loris EOC located at the Public Safety Building. Building official and the public works director, Brandon Harrelson, managed all crews working into the night for many days in advance in preparation of Dorian. Harrelson said, “Thank you both for a job well done. Thank you to city Clerk Kenya Wright for the preparations and social media updates allowing our citizens to stay informed throughout the storm.”  He further thanked Amanda Causey-Hawley and Shana Mincey for assisting with the EOC operations during the storm. Interim city administrator, Dennis Drozdak, came in willing to offer assistance. Harrelson further stated he wanted to recognize the employees out in the storm, “A big thank you also goes to the members of each crew; water and sewer, street, recreation department, LPD officers, LFD volunteers, the administrative staff and Joan Griffin.”  He stated it was a group effort that proved to be successful; which none of this would have been possible without each and every one of the city employees.  He thanked all the citizens for the many compliments that the job was well done by city staff.

The mayor’s message ended with, “I am proud to be from Loris and honored to be the mayor of Loris.  God bless you all.”

Residents of Loris were safe through the storm and after with little clean up and the days returned to summer like weather in the 90s and no sign there was a hurricane in this area.